Hamburger Buddy

Hamburger Buddy

169 Reviews

From: EatingWell Magazine, September/October 2007

Very finely chopping onion, mushrooms and carrots in the food processor is not only fast—it makes the vegetables hard to detect for picky eaters. They also form the base for the sauce of this ground beef skillet supper. Make it a meal: Serve with a green salad.

Preparation

Active

40 m

Ready In

40 m

Fit a food processor with the steel blade attachment. With the motor running, drop garlic through the feed tube and process until minced, then add carrots and mushrooms and process until finely chopped. Turn it off, add onion, and pulse until roughly chopped.

Cook beef in a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped vegetables, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften and the mushrooms release their juices, 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in water, 1½ cups broth, noodles and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Whisk flour with the remaining ¼ cup broth in a small bowl until smooth; stir into the hamburger mixture. Stir in the sour cream. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley (or chives), if desired.

Reviews 169

I'll start by saying that my family did eat this meal and will have it for leftovers tomorrow, so it isn't horrible. However, we won't be cooking it again. In a world of a million online recipes (and just as many cookbooks), it was just too far from where it needed to be . First, it is very bland. I added some celery salt and dried mustard to perk up the flavor after tasting it. I think it could benefit from more pepper, maybe even a steak blend. It also needed quite a bit more Worcestershire. Everyone added a few shakes to their bowl and agreed it was better. Husband thought perhaps it needed the bite from chives or scallions. Second, mine had way too much liquid in the end. I would recommend cutting 1/2 cup of the water and giving that a try. And finally, this isn't something you take pictures of. Luckily my toddler doesn't care what food looks like, but the husband muttered something about the dog getting prettier food.

August 18, 2017

By: SBuck

Great base recipe. I didn't add the carrots. I substituted homemade vegetable stock for beef, ground turkey for beef, and whole wheat flour for all purpose. I only used one cup of water. I added more salt, Worcestershire sauce, and herbs de province instead of thyme. Family loved it.

July 28, 2017

By: SWest

I was out of thyme, so I used 1 1/2 t. of dried basil instead. It was a decent meal and a good, healthy substitute for processed, boxed dinners. The first bite was a little bland, but the more I ate, the more I liked it.

June 19, 2017

By: DHizzy

Pretty Good! I reccomend taking out the carrots since they don't really go great with the garlic and onion. Great base recipe if you're looking to eat healthier.

June 12, 2017

By: Kim

Totally nasty in every way will definitely not make this again my family hated it so did I.

April 26, 2017

By: CJon315

Very boring and bland if you follow the recipe to a T. I used it as a guideline and put in a lot more salt, worcestershire, and even some sugar. Served the dish with shredded cheese and hot sauce. It turned out fine, delicious enough for a tired Tuesday night.

February 20, 2017

By: Hester Botha

My little girl is a very picky eater and she polished two plates full of this!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I did add a little extra salt because it was a bit bland to my taste but other than that it was fabulous!! My husband loved it too

February 20, 2017

By: AdrieB

The sauce didn't really thicken up and the thyme was overbearing. I used dried powder like thyme so I only used 1/4 of what the recipe called for but it was still too much. My daughter said it was ok but my husband wouldn't eat it at all.

February 14, 2017

By: Jenna Whitney

This was so gross I had to throw it all out. Had I known that thyme was so nasty tasting I never would have added it. No one in the family liked it.